Ventilated seat

ABSTRACT

A ventilated vehicle seat includes a bag formed from impermeable materials enclosing a spacer material. The latter preferably includes upper and lower netting sheets and fibers extending between the netting sheets, the fibers being sufficiently resilient to prevent total collapse of the spacer material when the seat is occupied. An air mover forces air into or draws air from the bag is coupled to the air space between the air impermeable layers. Holes are provided in the top of the bag, and the sizes are preferably selected to equalize air flow over the seating surface, rather than having all the air flow through the openings nearest the fan. An optional, porous heating layer may be located above the bag. The ventilation and trim components are preferably sewn into the seat in a single operation.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS, IF ANY

None.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates generally to the art of vehicle seatingand more particularly to ventilated seating wherein air may be forcedupwardly from the seating surface or draw downwardly therethrough toenhance occupant comfort. More specifically, the present inventionrelates to a ventilated seating system which is easy to install into aseat in a single operation and which is easy to adapt to a wide varietyof seating designs.

2. Description of the Prior Art

Many different types of ventilated seats are known to the art. Theytypically are designed to enhance occupant comfort by passing airthrough the covering of the seat or horizontal through the seat itself.In warm weather the air flow moves in the vicinity of the seat contactedby the occupant's body and assists in cooling and reducing sweating. Incold weather, ventilated seats can help warm the occupant if heated airis forced through the seat or the seat covering. It is known therefore,that air flow in ventilated seats can be in either direction.

It is also known that the air used in ventilated seats can be ambientair (i.e., air of the same temperature as the vehicle interior) orcooled or heated air. For example, a ventilated seat can be coupled to avehicle's air conditioning system. In addition, known ventilated seatingcan include flow control to increase or decrease total air flow, as wellas direction, such as by having low, medium and high flow settings.

Ventilated vehicle seating, while being known for some time, is notwidely used in the industry and is usually an expensive option orstandard equipment in luxury priced vehicles. One reason is cost ofmanufacture, and as noted in many of the patents provided with thisapplication, ventilated seating systems can be complex in design anddifficult to install. In many cases providing a ventilation featurebecomes a dominant consideration in overall seat design and may forcethe seat manufacturer to compromise comfort or styling details. In mostcases the ventilation components must be carefully located within theseat, and the duct work and air moving apparatus must be accounted forbefore the final layer of seat cushioning and trim is sewn to the othercomponents. Increased time in assembly equates to increased cost for themanufacturer, the OEM and the ultimate customer. A ventilated seatingsystem which works effectively and provides even air flow at theportions of the seat to be ventilated, and which is less costly tomanufacture than prior art ventilated seats, would represent asubstantial advance in this art.

FEATURES AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A primary feature of the present invention is to provide a ventilatedseating system which overcomes the above-noted disadvantages of priorart ventilated seats.

Another feature of the present invention is to provide a ventilatedseating system which is relatively inexpensive and which can be easilyadapted to a variety of seat designs.

A different feature of the present invention is to provide a ventilatedseating system which produces a substantially uniform air flow in all ofthe areas of the seat where ventilation is desired.

Yet another feature of the present invention is to provide a ventilatedseating system which may include a heating layer to enhance occupantcomfort during cold weather.

Another feature of the present invention is to provide a ventilatedseating system, the performance of which is not impaired by heavyoccupants.

How these and other features of the invention are accomplished,individually or in various combinations, will be described in thefollowing detailed description of the preferred embodiment, taken inconjunction with the drawings. Generally, however, the features areprovided in a ventilated seating system which is located beneath thetrim (for example, perforated leather, cloth, etc.) and is installed atthe plant of the seat manufacturer. The ventilated seating systemincludes a bag having upper and lower sheets of non-permeable materialwhich prevent the passage of air except at locations determined by themanufacturer. Within the bag is a three dimensional, expanded spacermaterial, preferably one which includes upper and lower layers ofnetting and fibers located therebetween which are stiff and which extendbetween the upper and lower netting layers. Expanded plastics can alsobe used. The spacer material is sufficiently stiff to avoid blockage ofair flow when the seat is occupied, even by heavy occupants. Holes areprovided in the upper surface of the bag, and preferably the holes areprovided in a pattern matching the contact area of the occupant. Forexample, the bag for a seat cushion may include holes arranged in aU-shape, while a seat back might include a linear array of holesextending from the lower part of the seat to the upper part. An airmovement system (e.g., a fan or a duct coupled to the vehicle's airconditioning system) is coupled to the bag and hence to the air spacecreated by the spacer material to cause air movement laterally,longitudinally and vertically through the spacer material. If the airmovement system is in a suction mode, air is drawn through the holes,into the spacer material and out of the bag. In a pressurization-mode,air is forced into the bag and outwardly through the holes. The featuresof the present invention are also accomplished by altering the holesizes so that holes nearer the air flow entrance or exit are smaller,thereby equalizing the amount of air which passes through the holes. Anoptional heater pad may be employed as a layer between the seat trimlayer and the upper layer of the bag, or heating may be accomplished bycoupling the air mover to the vehicle forced air heating system. Forcooling, ambient air may be used, or the fan may be coupled to thevehicle's air conditioning system. Other ways in which the features ofthe present invention are accomplished will become apparent to thoseskilled in the art after they have read the following detaileddescription of the preferred and alternate embodiments, such other waysalso being deemed by the present inventors to be within the scope of thepresent invention if they fall within the scope of the claims whichfollow.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In the following drawings like reference numerals are used to indicatelike components.

FIG. 1 is a perspective, schematic view, with portions broken away,showing the main components of the ventilated seating system accordingto the preferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective, schematic view of the ventilated seating systemof the present invention (with the upper trim and the optional heatinglayer removed) showing the placement of two ventilated seating bags onthe cushion and seatback and illustrating the coupling thereof to asingle fan; and

FIG. 3 is an exploded view of the major components of the presentinvention.

FIG. 4 is a partial cross sectional view of the cover taken generallyalong lines 4-4 of FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED AND ALTERNATE EMBODIMENTS

Before beginning the detailed description of the preferred and alternateembodiments, several general comments can be made about theapplicability and the scope of the present invention.

First, the ventilated heating system of this invention can be used witha wide variety of seats, including the sport or bucket type seatillustrated in FIG. 2 or in bench seating. For the latter, theventilation system may be occupant selective, i.e., may have separatecontrols for different portions of the same seat, or may have a singlebag system with one control.

Second, the ventilated heating system of this invention is shown with anair-permeable optional heating pad over the upper layer of the bag andbeneath the trim of the seat. Other ways of seat heating may beemployed, such as coupling the air space within the bag to the vehicle'sair heating system.

Third, it is preferable that the ventilated seating system of thepresent invention be sewn along with seat trim and cushioning componentsto enhance manufacturing efficiency. However, the bag may be assembledas a separate component and then placed in the seat and coupled to thefan as a separate unit. In this regard, it should be noted thatcushioning and other comfort layers which are not illustrated ordescribed in detail in the specification may be used. If cushion layersare placed over the top of the bag, they should be open pore to permitair to readily pass through them.

Fourth, the way in which the fan illustrated in the drawings is coupledto sources of cooled, heated or ambient air is not shown in detail, butif it is desired to couple the fan to either the air cooling system ofthe vehicle or to the vehicles air heating system, conventional ductwork used in the vehicle manufacturing field may be employed to conveytemperature modified air from the source to the fan.

Fifth, with the exception of the spacer material, which is locatedwithin the air-impermeable bag, the materials used for constructing thetrim, heater pad and the bag itself may be selected from a wide range ofmaterials. For the trim, air-permeable materials should be selected,such as cloth or perforated leather, but the thickness, color, etc., maybe widely varied. Other spacer materials, such as expanded plastics, canbe employed within the air-impermeable bag, so long as air flow ispermitted to occur in any direction, i.e., longitudinally, laterally, orvertically within the spacer material itself. The preferred spacermaterial to be used herein is a series 5900 spacer material manufacturedby Mueller Textile of Wiehl, Germany. This material, in addition toproviding air distribution benefits, also provides comfort benefits andincludes an upper netting layer, a lower netting layer and a pluralityof stiffened resin fibers extending between the netting layers. It maydeform slightly when an occupant sits on the seat, but the material issufficiently resilient that it will not be crushed to the point the airflow is blocked, thereby impairing the effectiveness of the seatventilation. In the preferred embodiment, the upper layer of the bag ismade of a dual layer material having a first lower layer consisting ofan air-impermeable resin film, over which is placed a thin foam layer. Asuitable material is Pladilon™ material, manufactured by FoamexInternational, Inc., of Southfield, Mich., U.S.A.

Proceeding now to a description of the preferred embodiment, FIG. 1shows in schematic form with portions cut away, a ventilated seatassembly 10 according to the preferred embodiment of the presentinvention. Assembly 10 includes a number of different layers which, invarious aspects of the invention can be varied and/or eliminated asmentioned above. The upper layer of seat assembly 10 is the perforatedtrim which preferably is cloth or perforated leather. Located beneaththe trim 12 is an air-permeable heater layer 14. Located beneath heaterlayer 14 is the top layer 16 of a bag 18. The bottom 20 of bag 18 isalso shown in this Figure, as is the joining of the top 16 and bottom 20to form an air-impermeable bag, except for a plurality of holes 22formed in the bag top 16. It can be noted in FIG. 1 that a hole can beformed in the heater pad 14, but if the heater pad material is airpermeable, it is not necessary to do so. It will also be noted in FIG. 1that the size of the holes 22 located near the lower portion of theFIGURE are larger than holes nearer the heater pad 14. More will be saidin this regard later.

The final component of assembly 10, as shown in FIG. 1, is a spacermaterial 24. As indicated earlier, the preferred spacer material is theMueller Textile material which includes an upper netting layer, a lowernetting layer and a plurality of fibers extending between them. Thismaterial has sufficient resiliency to prevent crushing of spacer layer24 when an occupant sits on or leans back against a ventilated seatassembly 10.

FIG. 2 illustrates the use of two bags attached to a seat 30 comprisedof a seatback 32 and a seat cushion 34. One bag 10 resides along thecenter area of the seatback 32, while another bag is located at thecenter portion of the cushion 34. The bags each extend through the biteline of the seat and the bag impermeable layers are suitably coupled toa fan 35 located below the bite line.

FIG. 2 also illustrates in greater detail the aspect of the preferredembodiment of the present invention which varies the size of the holes22 as the distance from the air mover increases. In this Figure, threeopenings are provided in the bag extending up the backrest 32 with holes37, 38 and 39 becoming gradually larger as the distance from fan 35increases. A linear pattern is provided for these holes, as that patternhas been found to be acceptable for the heating or cooling of anoccupant. The bag located on the cushion 34 also includes a pattern ofopenings 22, this time the openings being provided in a U-shape to restunder the legs and seat of the occupant. The opening 42 at the bottom ofthe “U ” is the smallest and sets of openings 43, 44, 45, and 46 extendin a spaced relationship toward the front of the bag and grow graduallylarger. This size and arrangement of the air holes, with the smallerholes being near the air mover, contributes to a more uniform flow ofair from the air mover, in this case fan 35. It should be understoodhowever, that the hole sizes may be the same without departure from thescope of this invention.

Proceeding next to FIG. 3, a more detailed, exploded view of a singlebag is shown. The same reference numerals will be used as were used inconnection with FIG. 1 for the various layers. Proceeding from the top,the perforated trim layer 12 is shown above the heater layer 14 (and inthis case, the electrical coupling through wires 15 is shown). The bagtop 16 is located beneath the heater and the spacer material 24 is thenprovided. Bottom 20 of the bag completes the assembly on a seat cushion48.

In FIG. 3, each of the bag top 16, spacer 24 and bag bottom 20 includeelongate tails marked with the same reference number with a prime sign(e.g. 16′). In the illustrated embodiment, these extend through the seatbite line and an opening 49 is provided in the material forming the bagtop 16. In this Figure, a fan 50 acts as the air mover and is coupled toopening 49. Depending on the seat style and location, the tail mayextend forwardly or to the side.

In use, the system illustrated in FIG. 3 is preferably sewn to the seatat the same time trim 12 is attached. Components 12, 14, 16 and 20 canbe sewn together, the sewing of the latter two forming a portion of theseal extending about bag 18. Components 16′ and 20′ would be sewn alongtheir edges to maintain the air-impermeability in that area. Theattachment of the fan itself could be made in any suitable manner, suchas by using an adhesive or the like. It is also easy to understand byreference to FIG. 3 how other air moving systems could be employed forthe ventilated seat of the present invention. For example, a ductextending from the vehicle's air conditioning system could have its endcoupled in a sealed relationship to opening 49 to allow heated or cooledair to pass along the spacer to the holes (not shown in this Figure) andthe bag top 16. It can also be mentioned again here that the speed anddirection of air movement can be controlled by a separate controllercoupled to the air mover 50 or by using the fan speed and temperaturecontrols of the vehicle. If a fan 50 is used which is not directlycoupled to the vehicle's air conditioning system, it is preferred thatthe fan be reversible to operate in a pressurizing or suction mode andthat the fan be multi-speed, i.e., having at least low, medium and highsettings.

While the present invention has been described in connection with singlepreferred and then the alternate embodiment, the present invention isnot to be limited thereby but is to be limited solely by the scope ofthe claims which follow.

1. A ventilated seat for a vehicle comprising: a vehicle seat having aseat cushion component and a seat backrest component, at least one ofwhich is ventialted, each ventilated component having an air-permeabletrim surface at the occupant contact areas of the seat; a bag formed ofair-impermeable material located beneath the trim surface of eachventilated component, the bag including a top and a bottom, the topbeing nearer the trim surface, holes formed in the bag top to permit airflow therethrough; a spacer located within the bag permitting air toflow in any direction through the spacer, the spacer being sufficientlyresilient to prevent blockage of air flow when it is compressed by anoccupant sitting in the seat; a bag opening; and an air mover coupled tothe bag opening; wherein some bag holes are located nearer the bagopening than other holes and the size of the holes increases as thedistance from the bag opening increases.
 2. The ventilated seat of claim1, wherein the spacer comprises an upper netting layer adjacent the bagtop, a lower netting layer adjacent the bag bottom and a plurality ofplastic fibers extending between the upper netting layer and the lowernetting layer.
 3. The ventilated seat of claim 1, wherein the bag topincludes an inner resin air-impermeable film layer and an outer coveringof foam.
 4. The ventilated seat of claim 1, wherein the air mover is afan coupled to a bag opening.
 5. The ventilated seat of claim 1, whereinthe air mover is the vehicle's air conditioning system.
 6. Theventilated seat of claim 1 comprising an electrically powered heaterlayer between the bag top and the trim surface.
 7. The ventilated seatof claim 1, wherein the bag holes are arranged in a pattern generallycorresponding to the contact area an occupant would have with the seat.8. The ventilated seat of claim 1, wherein both the seat cushioncomponent and the seat backrest component are ventilated.
 9. Theventilated seat of claim 8, wherein a single air mover is coupled to thetwo bags, the air mover being coupled to an extension of each bag. 10.The ventilated seat of claim 8, wherein both bag tops are made from aninner film resin layer and an outer covering of foam.
 11. The ventilatedseat of claim 1, wherein the air mover is adapted to force air into thebag and outwardly through the holes and is a variable speed air mover.12. The ventilated seat of claim 1, wherein the air mover is adapted tosuction air from the bag and inwardly through the holes and is avariable speed air mover.
 13. The ventilated seat of claim 1, whereinthe air mover is reversible and adapted to selectively draw air from orforce air into the bag.
 14. A ventilated seat assembly comprising: aseat having a generally horizontal cushion and a backrest, the seat alsohaving an air-permeable decorative exterior trim cover, a bag includingan air-impermeable top, an air-impermeable bottom and an opening coupledto an air mover, wherein a pattern of holes is provided in the bag top,and a spacer is located within the bag, the holes being arranged andsized to provide a generally uniform air movement through the holes,wherein some holes are located nearer the bag opening than other holesand the size of the holes increases as the distance from the bag openingincreases.
 15. The seat assembly of claim 14, wherein the spacer isadapted to maintain airflow throughout the bag when an occupant sits onthe seat.
 16. The seat assembly of claim 15, wherein the spacercomprises an upper netting layer adjacent the bag top, a lower nettinglayer adjacent the bag bottom and a plurality of plastic fibersextending between the upper netting layer and the lower netting layer.17. The seat assembly of claim 15, wherein the bag top includes an innerresin air-impermeable film layer and an outer covering of foam.
 18. Theseat assembly of claim 16, wherein the air mover is a fan.
 19. The seatassembly of claim 16, wherein the bag holes are arranged in a patterngenerally corresponding to the contact area an occupant would have withthe seat.
 20. A ventilated seat for a vehicle comprising: a vehicle seathaving a seat cushion component and a seat back rest component forming abite line therebetween, each of which is ventilated, each ventilatedcomponent having an air-permeable trim surface at the occupant contactareas of the seat; a bag formed of air-impermeable material locatedbeneath the trim surface of each ventilated component, the bag includinga top and a bottom, the top being nearer the trim surface, holes formedin the bag top to permit air flow therethrough; a spacer located withinthe bag permitting air flow in any direction through the spacer, thespacer being sufficiently resilient to prevent blockage of air flow whenit is compressed by an occupant sitting in the seat; a portion of eachbag and spacer extending through the bite line between the seat cushioncomponent and the seat backrest component; a bag opening located in theportion of the bag extending through the bite line; and an air movercoupled to the bag opening; wherein some holes are located nearer thebag opening than other holes and the size of the holes increases as thedistance from the bag opening increases.
 21. A ventilated seat assemblycomprising: a seat having a generally horizontal cushion and a backrest,the seat also having an air-permeable decorative exterior trim cover, abag including an air-impermeable top, an air-impermeable bottom and anopening coupled to an air mover, wherein a plurality of holes areprovided in the bag top, and a spacer is located within the bag, theholes being arranged and sized to provide a generally uniform airmovement through the bag, some of the holes being located nearer the bagopening than other holes and each hole having a cross-sectional area,wherein the holes located substantially the same distance from the bagopening comprise a group having a total cross-sectional area of eachgroup of holes increases as the distance of the group of holes from thebag opening increases.
 22. The seat assembly of claim 21, wherein thebag holes are arranged in a pattern generally corresponding to thecontact area an occupant would have with the seat.
 23. The seat assemblyof claim 21, wherein the air mover is a fan.
 24. The seat assembly ofclaim 21, wherein the spacer comprises an upper netting layer adjacentthe bag top, a lower netting layer adjacent the bag bottom and aplurality of plastic fibers extending between the upper netting layerand the lower netting layer.
 25. The seat assembly of claim 21 whereinat least one of the groups of holes includes more than one hole.